Discover Iceland [ Part 2 : South Coast & Jokulsarlon ]
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
اسلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
Second day in Iceland, we had to get ready super early (Fajr was around 2.30am) around 7.30am for our tour bus to pick us up at the apartment. Due to the lack of credit card possession, and public transport was irrelevantly rare in Iceland, we had to book a tour via travel agents. We chose Nordic Visitor because they offer appropriate tour within our price range. The company is a sort of third-party runner for other small travel agencies. On their website, they offered different tours according to our preferences and they will look up a company to match our request. So, our first day tour to South Coast and Jokulsarlon was handled by Gray Line - Iceland Excursions.
Tips:
- Halaal food were none to existent in Iceland. Hence, packed foods or pre-cooked meals are highly recommended.
- This type of tour particularly the South Coast and Jokulsarlon took about 14 hours. Be well prepared (food, solah, etc)
South Coast main attraction are waterfalls such as Skogarfoss, Seljalandsfoss, the black sand beach, Vik and Skaftafell National Park. Meanwhile Jokulsarlon is a glacial lagoon located at the most southern part of south Iceland.
Our first stop was Skogarfoss, the biggest waterfall in Iceland. The fall was so strong that taking a photo near it was next to impossible. Our close-up photos were nothing but blurry images. From afar though, the fall looks amazing masyaAllah.
The journey by bus were a bit far that by lunch time, we reached a small area called Kirkjubæjarklaustur and had our packed lunch there. The lunch was nothing fancy (boiled eggs, rice and canned sardines) but the view was unbeatable. After lunch, we continued our journey to Jokulsarlon which took another 1 and a half hour by bus.
Jokulsarlon lagoon contains the biggest glacier in the entire Europe called Vatnajokull which were already recorded by the first sailors arriving Iceland in AD 870. It was said that the glacier could be seen from Faroe Islands on a sunny day which were around 500km away. MasyaAllah, subhaanAllah. We were left speechless. Our tour guide mentioned that the glacier that we see today is only 1% visible. It means that 99% of the glacier is not visible which located below the island itself! Imagine!
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| Part of the glacier visible to the human eye. |
There were boat tours available at the edge of the lagoon offering amphibian boats to cruise near the icebergs. Amphibian boats were really cool and to be able to ride on one was one great experience. If you book a tour with any travel agency, the boat tour will be included.
On our way back to Reykjavik, our tour made a quick stop at the Skaftafell National Park. Due to time restriction, we were only allowed to take a quick hike and only managed to take very few shots.
From Skaftafell, our next destination was the black sand beach village, Vik. Vik is a small, southernmost village in Iceland. It hosts to approximately 300 inhabitants. The beach was stretched with black-coloured sand as a result from volcano activities.
Departing Vik, we head for our last destination of the day towards Seljalandsfoss. The unique feature was, we could walk behind the strong waterfall and had an amazing view of Iceland. The waterfall was used to be a part of a cliff a long time ago. It means that the entire land laid out in front of the waterfall was used to be an ocean.
En route to Reykjavik, our tour bus made a short stop at the roadside enabling us to take some photos of the sun setting in Iceland. Most beautiful thing ever masyaAllah.
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| Skaftafell National Park is where people start their glacier excursions. |
From Skaftafell, our next destination was the black sand beach village, Vik. Vik is a small, southernmost village in Iceland. It hosts to approximately 300 inhabitants. The beach was stretched with black-coloured sand as a result from volcano activities.
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| Black sandy beach overlooking the 'Three Trolls'. |
Departing Vik, we head for our last destination of the day towards Seljalandsfoss. The unique feature was, we could walk behind the strong waterfall and had an amazing view of Iceland. The waterfall was used to be a part of a cliff a long time ago. It means that the entire land laid out in front of the waterfall was used to be an ocean.
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| Looks can be deceiving. Seems small, but it ain't small at all! |
En route to Reykjavik, our tour bus made a short stop at the roadside enabling us to take some photos of the sun setting in Iceland. Most beautiful thing ever masyaAllah.
Until next time!
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